


A River of Blood and Roses

by TheOriginalArgonaught



Category: RWBY
Genre: Action, Anger, Flirting, Gore, Injury, Injury Recovery, Major Character Injury, Sarcasm, Swearing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-29
Updated: 2017-02-04
Packaged: 2018-09-20 18:04:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,538
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9504113
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheOriginalArgonaught/pseuds/TheOriginalArgonaught
Summary: Nilo Hinto and his team are new transfers to Beacon Academy from Atlas. Why they left is a mystery to everyone except Ozpin and Ironwood. But one things for sure. They are going to have a big effect on both teams RWBY and JNPR, for better or worse. Whether any of them like the new transfers is entirely debatable.





	1. Bat Wings, New Friend, and Hitting on Teachers

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, Readers! For those of you that don't know how I run my fics, here's a brief rundown: I wing it. Well, that's not entirely true, I usually plan a few chapters ahead, but if you have any suggestions, I try to fit them in if I can. I will update tags as I write, so everything I tag is guaranteed in the story, even if I haven't posted that chapter yet. I will try to post on this fic around every week, but I'm starting to ramble now, so without further ado, Enjoy!

Beacon Academy’s airstrip was incredibly crowded on Saturday afternoons, especially when it was only the second Saturday of the school year. Everyone had been at Beacon long enough to get sick of it, while hardly getting any chance to see Vale. As a result, almost the entire first-year student body of Beacon was on the airstrip waiting for a shuttle to arrive, as well as many second years and upperclassmen.

Nobody there seemed to notice or care about a very large bird flying straight towards the school. Everybody was too busy planning their big day out, until one student, Weiss Schnee noticed that the bird had four legs instead of two. She turned back to her friend Yang and pointed out the four legged bird to her.

“Maybe a griffon managed to get past Vale’s defenses,” The blond offered as flicked her arms causing her golden bracelets to transform into two intimidating looking wrist mounted shotguns. Weiss rolled her eyes as she pulled out Myrtenaster. Yang was always looking for a fight.

After a few minutes, most of the students had noticed the four-legged bird and had adopted stances similar to Weiss, casually holding their weapons. Weiss scanned the crowd and say varying levels of excitement. Some people, like Yang, couldn’t wait to tear this thing to shreds, Grimm or not. Others wanted nothing to do with it or just wanted to know what it was.

Eventually, the “Bird” was close enough to make out its features, only it wasn’t a bird. It was a man with wings.

He wore an Atlas Academy uniform. White pants, a dark gray sleeveless coat over a light gray shirt with a black tie and shiny black combat boots. Over his uniform, he had a green duffel bag and a brown leather harness that Weiss assume was connected to the wings. The wings were made of a deep blue fabric with metal rods sewn into them. He resembled a giant blue and white bat.

All eyes were on the Atlassian stranger as his wings retracted into his back once he was a few feet above the balcony. He ducked into a combat role as he hit the cement. He stood up and looked around at all the students.

“Headmaster’s office?” He asked simply. Everyone in the crowd pointed towards Professor Ozpin’s tower. The stranger smiled.

“Thank you,” He said as he started walking towards the school. After a few steps, he noticed everyone was still looking at him.

“What?” He asked shrugging, “You’ve never seen someone sprout wings and fly before? Or do I have something in my teeth?” Everyone ashamedly looked away with the exception of Weiss. As he walked past her she noted that there were two falcata swords where his wings used to be on his back.

“Who is that guy?” Weiss thought out loud as he slowly shrank into the distance.

“I don’t know,” Yang said as she threw her arm around Weiss, “But he sure can make an entrance!”

========================================================================

Nilo leaned against a nearby wall and thought about his trip from Atlas as he waited for the elevator to open. It had been a pretty boring flight with the exception of the beginning. Well, the end had it’s moments too, but dodging AA cannons was a little more exciting than meeting new people.

The elevator doors finally opened and a young blonde woman with a white shirt and black skirt walked out. She didn’t look dangerous, but the way she carried herself made Nilo a little uneasy. Combine that with the fact that she was carrying around a riding crop, and she scared Nilo just a little. And that was no easy task.

“Are you Nilo Hinto?” She asked in a welcoming, yet abrasive tone. Nilo swallowed the lump in his throat before giving the woman a cocksure grin.

“Yes I am, gorgeous,” He said in his smoothest possible voice, “And you are?”

“Glynda Goodwitch, the deputy headmistress of this academy,” She responded, shooting Nilo a glare that would make a deathstalker run and hide. Nilo’s smile vanished as professor Goodwitch gestured to the elevator.

“Professor Ozpin is waiting for you on the-”

“Top floor?” Nilo interrupted as he walked into the small metal box, “The important people are always on the top floor.” Before professor Goodwitch could say anything Nilo pushed the button labeled “53rd floor” and the door closed.

A few seconds later the door opened again and Nilo was greeted by a view of several cubicles and meeting rooms. A receptionist looked up at him from her computer and smiled.

“Can I help you, sweetie?” She asked in a very grandmotherly way. Nilo was tempted to ask for some hard candy but decided against it.

“Professor Ozpin’s office?” He asked for the second time that day.

“Two floors down.” She stated simply before turning her attention back to her computer.

After another minute of waiting for the elevator, Nilo stepped into Ozpin’s office. The gray-haired man was sitting at his clockwork desk with a serene expression on his face as he did paperwork. He must have heard Nilo’s footsteps because he looked up from his paperwork to greet the new student.

“You must be Nilo Hinto,” He said in a matter-of-factly voice. Nilo shrugged as he approached the desk.

“I don’t know if I must be,” He said sarcastically as he approached the desk, “But I am.” Ozpin cracked a small smile and chuckled lightly.

“You are indeed,” He said as he turned back to his paperwork, “Welcome to Beacon, but where’s the rest of your team if you don’t mind me asking.” Nilo sat down in a nearby chair and sighed.

“They’re still waiting for transfer papers to go through,” He said as he scratched the back of his head.

“Yes, but you still are too,” The teacher replied cooly. Nilo snickered and folded his arms across his chest.

“They didn’t have the same level of motivation as I do to leave.” A light of understanding dawned on Ozpin’s face as he listened.

“Ah. Of course. I had nearly forgotten about your… special case.” Nilo shifted in his seat. If Ozpin knew about it too, then Beacon might not be as safe as he thought. Ozpin seemed like a decent sort, of course, but so did Ironwood.

As if he knew what Nilo was thinking, Ozpin said, “Don’t worry. I’ve known longer than Ironwood. You won’t have any trouble from me.” Nilo relaxed back into his seat again, but not as much as he had before.

“Well, I have paperwork to do, and you have a dorm room to find, so I’ll keep this brief,” Ozpin continued, “Student transfers this early in the year are almost unheard of, so it stands to reason your new classmates will ask questions, especially since you’ve elected to arrive without your team and in such a… unique matter. This transition might prove to be stressful, even more so without your teammates. It’s because of this, that I’ve decided to not require you to attend classes until the rest of team NKKL (Nickel) arrives. Any questions?” Nilo thought for a moment.

“Can I attend sparring classes to stay in shape?”

“If you want to, but I doubt you would need to.”

 

“I have to entertain myself somehow. Do I still have to wear a uniform?”

“Yes, there’s a clean Beacon uniform for you to wear waiting in your dorm.”

“Really?”

“Yes.” Nilo Pouted when he heard this.

“Is there any way to change your mind?”

“No.” Nilo sighed and stood up. He rubbed the back of his neck.

“Alright. In that case, I guess I’ll go find my dorm.”

It took Nilo around forty-five minutes to find his dorm room. Beacon Academy was a damn labyrinth, and he didn’t have a map. Eventually, he just resorted to trying every lock in the building until one accepted his scroll.

Nilo’s dorm had four twin sized beds against one wall. Each bed had a dresser next to it, and a neatly folded Beacon uniform laying on its pillow. Aside from the beds, the dorm also had a large window on the wall furthest from the door and two walk-in closets.

Nilo closed the door, threw his duffel bag onto a nearby bed, and stripped off his falcata harness. He groaned as he threw himself onto the bed that now held his duffel, and stared at the ceiling.

He quickly got bored and decided to go look around. He stood up, opened his duffel, and changed into his combat gear, which was similar to the atlas uniform. He still wore the black combat boots, and white pants, but instead of his sleeveless jacket and shirt, he wore a sleeveless white undershirt and a blue sleeveless trench coat that ended just above his ankles.

He grabbed his weapons to complete the look. First, he put on his falcata harness. Then he strapped a kukri knife to each of his thighs. Then he grabbed his throwing knives. He had specially sewn pockets in his coat to hold sixty of them, and a large leather pouch that he strapped to his right shoulder to hold another ten.

It was only after Nilo had gotten dressed, that he realized he had no idea where anything interesting was. In light of that, he decided to wander around. Who knows, he might meet someone interesting.

========================================================================

Ruby was bored. There was no other way to put it. Weiss and Yang had left to see a movie, and Blake was… well.. Blake.

At the moment, Ruby was attempting to entertain herself by cleaning Crescent Rose for the tenth time that morning and loudly sighing, much to the dismay of her four-eared roommate who was trying to read a book.

After one specifically loud sigh, Blake looked up from her book and said, “Ruby, can you please stop signing?! I’m losing my patience over here.” Ruby sighed again.

“But I’m bored Blake.” The hooded girl complained. Black rolled her amber eyes and turned back to her book.

“Then go to the training room. Or the library. Or anywhere but here, really.” Ruby jumped down from her very unstable looking bunk bed and yawned. It wasn’t the first time Blake had kicked her out of their room, and it probably wouldn’t be the last either.

Ruby opened the door and walked into the hallway, and almost immediately ran into someone, causing her to fall backward. Just as she was about to hit the ground, she felt a hand snake around her wrist, jerking her to a stop.

She looked up at the person that caught her. It was a boy, with tan skin, dark brown hair with a blue streak and piercing blue eyes. He was incredibly handsome. The only imperfection Ruby saw was a scar that curved from his hairline and stopped just above his left eye. The stranger was wearing a sleeveless blue trenchcoat, with a white undershirt, white pants, and shiny black combat boots. Ruby didn’t notice these until after she noticed the blades. He had two long curved swords sheathed on his back and two very intimidating looking knives strapped to his legs. Besides that, he also had throwing knives in a sheath on his shoulder, and inside his coat which had fallen open when he caught her.

“Are you okay?” He asked with softness in his voice. Ruby nodded and just kept staring at him. She didn’t recognize him, which was unusual because she knew almost all the first years and a good chunk of the second years. He pulled her back to her feet and smiled at her.

“Thanks,” Ruby said as she awkwardly rubbed the back of her head. The stranger adjusted his coat so his knives weren’t visible, then put his hands behind his back.

“Don’t thank me,” He said in a light-hearted tone, “I’m the one that knocked you over in the first place.” Ruby chuckled, still staring at him.

He asked, “You know there’s this thing called blinking right?” Ruby stopped staring and chuckled weakly.

“Sorry,” She said as she brought the hands together in front of her, “I’ve just never seen you before.” The stranger nodded as he pulled out a throwing knife and began to twirl it nonchalantly as if he did it all the time.

“That’s probably because I’m a new transfer from Atlas,” he said as he threw the knife up in the air and caught it, balancing the point on the tip of his index finger, “Just go here a few hours ago actually. My name’s Nilo by the way. Nilo Hinto.” He offered Ruby his only free hand. She shook it.

“Ruby Rose,” She greeted warmly. Nilo put his knife back in his coat and furrowed his brow.

“Don’t take this the wrong way, but aren’t you a little young to be here?” He asked. Ruby could tell by his tone that he wasn’t insulting her, he was just curious.

“I was let in three years early because I stopped an armed robbery with the deputy headmistress,” Upon hearing this Nilo raised an eyebrow.

“Professor Goodwitch?” He asked in a disbelieving tone, “For some reason, I doubt she would bend the rules that much.” Ruby chuckled and bounced on the balls of her feet.

“She didn’t. Professor Ozpin, Beacon’s headmaster, did.”

Nilo nodded then said, “Well then, Little Rose, seeing as how you’re my only friend here so far, would you mind if I tagged along with you for a bit?” Ruby thought about this for a moment. She liked Nilo, but she also wanted to mess with him a bit. Nilo shook her shoulder after a few seconds bringing her back to their conversation. A smile slowly crept across Ruby’s face.

“Sure,” She said as she held her hand out to him, “Come on I’ll show you.”

========================================================================

Nilo looked at Ruby hesitantly. He knew she was planning something it was apparent from the menacing grin on her face. Under normal circumstances, he wouldn’t even consider taking her hand, but there was something about this Ruby girl that made her incredibly trustable.

“You’ve obviously got something devious planned, Ruby,” He said as he watched her smirk disappear, “You have a terrible poker face. Lucky for you, I never turn down an opportunity to hold hands with a pretty girl.” Nilo took Ruby’s hand and saw her smirk again. He failed to notice her blushing furiously about the pretty girl comment, though.

“Great! Come on!” She said happily as she broke off into a sprint down the hallway. Nilo sprinted after her, with their hands still interlocked. After the first few steps, Nilo was having trouble keeping up. A few steps after that, he tripped over his own feet. Nilo braced for impact, but to his surprise, he wasn’t falling. He was flying. He looked ahead and saw Ruby, still holding his hand, and still sprinting.

A split second later, Ruby stopped. Things went downhill for both her and her new friend very quickly after that. Ruby may have stopped, but Nilo hadn’t. He flew right into Ruby’s back causing her to topple over. After plowing through his friend, Nilo hit a concrete wall, face first. He managed to peel himself off the wall and get to a trash can just in time to throw up everything he’d eaten in the last twelve hours. Once he was done retching, Nilo jagged over to Ruby, who was still flat on her back.

Aside from a few scrapes and bruises and a bloody nose, Ruby seemed to be fine. She must have had a lot of aura to be relatively fine after something like that. She opened her eyes and looked at Nilo.

“You have a broken nose, and a big gash on your forehead,” She stated simply.

“You only have a few bruises and a bloody nose. Ha. I win,” Nilo replied in a cheery tone. Ruby, on the other hand, looked worried.

“Don’t worry about me,” Nilo said as he felt his nose. It was very obviously broken. There was a very prominent new knot about halfway up. He reached up and snapped it back into place, and proceeded to let out a particularly creative string of curse words.

“See, I’m fine,” He said as he lightly prodded his nose, making sure it was back to the way it was supposed to be. Ruby chuckled as she sat up.

“All the blood on your face and those tears running down your cheeks say otherwise,” She replied dryly.

Nilo offered Ruby his hand and said,“I’ll have you know, I don’t cry. It’s not manly.” Ruby laughed as she took his hand. Nilo decided to take in his surroundings. As far as he could tell, Ruby had printed them across the schoolyard. They were currently standing in front of a large metal building with barred windows and solid steel doors. It looked a lot like a prison if Nilo was being honest. Nilo turned to Ruby and raised an eyebrow.

“Where are we little Rose?” He asked as she walked over and opened the door. She held the door open and grandly gestured for him to enter.

“The sparring room!” she said excitedly. Nilo walked into the dimly lit building and gave his eyes a moment to adjust to the dark. It was a large room with several rows of seats facing a large raised semicircle. Ruby ran past Nilo and jumped up onto the platform. She motioned for him to do the same.

“Let me get this straight,” Nilo said as he walked up to the fighting platform, “You just met me less than twenty minutes ago and threw me face first into a wall, and now you want to fight me?” Ruby shrugged.

“Well when you put it like that,” she said as she reached her hand down to help Nilo onto the platform, “it sounds weird. But unless you have a better idea of how to pass the time, we’re going to fight, and I’m going to kick your butt.” Nilo walked to the far end of the platform and pulled out his falcata.

“Alright,” Nilo said as he rolled his wrists, “You won’t be able to beat me, though. But you’re welcome to try.” He turned around and saw Ruby pull a large harmless looking machine from behind her back. Ruby pushed a button, and suddenly the machine extended and took the form of a scythe with a rifle built into the handle.

Nilo smiled, “Oh-ho-ho this is going to be fun!”


	2. Fights, Drugs, and a Broken Janitor

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A/N): Hello everyone, I hope you enjoyed chapter one of this fic, and I'm eager to see your reaction to chapter two. A few notes before that, though: 1) Because I know it will come up eventually, I'm going to explain my system with the dashed lines. One dashed line means a significant/unknown amount of time has passed, and two dashed lines mean a change of POV possibly with a time change. I will be jumping around POVs a lot in this fic to show what certain characters are feeling/thinking. 2) I will be doubling the length of the chapters I'm writing because I'm already on what was going to be chapter four (now three) of this fic. This may mean I won't be posting every weekend, but hey, quality over quantity. 3) Like I said earlier, I only write one or two chapters ahead, so if you have any suggestions or things you would like to see the characters do, don't be afraid to message me or leave a review/comment. I'm sure you're all sick of my rambling by now so, enjoy.

(A/N): Hello everyone, I hope you enjoyed chapter one of this fic, and I’m eager to see your reaction to chapter two. A few notes before that though: 1) Because I know it will come up eventually, I’m going to explain my system with the dashed lines. One dashed line means a significant/unknown amount of time has passed, and two dashed lines mean a change of POV possibly with a time change. I will be jumping around POVs a lot in this fic to show what certain characters are feeling/thinking. 2) I will be doubling the length of the chapters I’m writing, because I’m already on what was going to be chapter four (now three) of this fic. This may mean I won’t be posting every weekend, but hey, quality over quantity. 3) Like I said earlier, I only write one or two chapters ahead, so if you have any suggestions or things you would like to see the characters do, don’t be afraid to message me or leave a review/comment. I’m sure you’re all sick of my rambling by now so, enjoy.

========================================================================  
Ruby smiled as she gripped Crescent Rose in her hands. Nilo was right. This was going to be fun. Nilo looked at Ruby’s scythe and then down at his own weapons. She could tell from the look in his eyes that he was planning something. He shrugged and sheathed his swords on his back, once again. Confused, Ruby planted the hilt of her scythe in the ground and raised her arms in a shrug.

“What was that?” Ruby asked, “Get your weapons out, we’re fighting.” Nilo chuckled but didn’t pull out his falcata. He adopted a fighting stance similar to one Ruby’s sister would use. Feet apart, fists low, back hunched.

“My swords are toothpicks compared to that monstrosity,” He said as he cracked his neck and smirked, “Besides, I shouldn’t need them to win this fight.” Ruby’s face darkened into a scowl. 

“Are you planning on holding back?” She asked, trying to sound as intimidating as possible while she pulled crescent rose out of the floor, “Because if you are, I’m going to crush you.” Nilo smiled and rolled his shoulders. Ruby had to admit she was impressed he was still so confident. A lot of people were intimidated just by the sight of her scythe.

“Yes I am, and no you won’t. Now come on. I’m starting to get bored.” Ruby planted the blade of her scythe in front of her, put Nilo in her gunsights, and pulled the trigger.

BANG

Nilo leaned to the left, causing the bullet to harmlessly strike the wall behind him. He started to walk forward as Ruby growled.

BANG

Nilo ducked into a sideways combat roll dodging Ruby's second attempt to hit him. He bounced back to his feet and started moving to Ruby again, this time at a run.

BANG BANG BANG

Nilo pulled one of his knives out its sheath on his leg, gripped the flat end of the blade with one hand, and the hilt with the other. All three bullets bounced harmlessly off Nilo’s kukri. Ruby pulled her scythes blade out of the ground and swung it horizontally at Nilo’s head. Nilo dropped to his knees and arched backward. Ruby’s scythe passed by over Nilo’s head, as he threw himself into a backward handspring.

After he finished his little acrobatic demonstration, he lifted his hand, revealing a throwing knife in each hand. He threw the knife from his left hand, followed by the one from his right. Ruby used her semblance to sprint away from the flying blades, leaving them to be embedded into the wall.

Once she was safe from the throwing knives, she steered herself towards Nilo, putting her weapon into war scythe form, and swiping at his torso. Nilo responded to this by dropping into a low crouch and performing a sweeping kick, taking Ruby out at the knees. She landed on her back with a thud. Her breath was knocked out of her chest. As she was wheezing on the floor, Nilo picked a rose petal off of his shoulder.

“Rose petals?” He asked facetiously, “I didn’t think you liked me that way.” Ruby responded by lifting both of her hands, with only her middle fingers extended. Nilo chuckled as he offered her his hand. She eyed him suspiciously. Even though she only met him less than an hour ago, she doubted he would be this kind to someone that just tried to decapitate him.

Nilo noticed the way she was looking at him and said, “Chivalry isn’t dead, little Rose. That’s the only reason this fight isn’t over yet.” Ruby pouted as she took his hand. He was still holding back, even though she was throwing everything she had at him. He hadn’t even used his swords yet.

“I refuse to believe you’re not trying, especially for chivalry’s sake,” Ruby said between heavy breaths as Nilo chuckled and turned has back to her, starting to walk away. Noticing he was distracted, Ruby picked up her weapon and got ready to charge him.

“Well, I wouldn’t want to hurt such a pretty face,” He said as Ruby started to run at him while his back was turned, “Besides, you still haven't managed to hit me yet.” Ruby swing her scythe at Nilo’s knees. For a split second Ruby thought she might have him beat, but then he jumped over her scythe and turned around, revealing his two kukris in his hands. He immediately brought one of the curved knives up to Ruby’s throat, while gently prodding her in the belly with the other one. Ruby looked defiantly up at Nilo.

“You have pretty eyes,” Nilo said, causing Ruby to blush slightly, “That was pretty sneaky by the way little Rose.” Ruby jumped backward, kicking Nilo in the stomach while in midair, causing him to drop his kukris, and fly backward, tumbling across the ground. 

After a few tumbles across the floor, Nilo managed to catch himself, digging his feet into the ground and skidding to a stop. Ruby smiled and used her semblance to charge him again while he was still recovering. As she was charging Nilo, she fired several shots from Crescent Rose to give herself even more speed. At the last moment, before Ruby hit Nilo, she reversed her scythe in her hand, hitting him with the dull edge so she wouldn’t cut him in half. Her scythe connected with his sternum, releasing a satisfying crunch before sending him flying into a wall.

Ruby smiled as she dug her heels into the ground, bringing her to an almost immediate halt. Maybe that would wipe that cocky grin off of Nilo’s face. She folded up her scythe, put it behind her back, and walked over to where Nilo sat slumped against the wall. The blue-clad huntsman lifted himself up and smiled.

“Good match little Rose,” He said in the same tone that Yang used whenever Ruby beat her at arm wrestling. It was a combination of overly proud and exhausted from long amounts of time patronizing. Needless to say, Ruby didn’t like it.

“You let me win, didn’t you?” She asked, pouting. Nilo nodded.

“Like I said, if I didn’t hold back, it wouldn’t be much of a fight.” Ruby looked at Nilo. He still had blood running down his face from their trip here, and now he had a gash on his forehead from being slammed into yet another wall. Ruby figured she was also probably bleeding, but it didn’t really bother her. Blood didn’t really show up on her hood. 

Ruby crossed her arms, “We’re going to fight again. And this time you’re not going to hold back.” Nilo raised a bloody eyebrow at this. 

“And what makes you so sure about that?” He asked as cleaned the blood off of his face with his now red forearm. Ruby thought for a moment about his question.

“Simple,” She said with a devious smile, “If I win, then we go back to the dorms the same way we got here.” Nilo blanched when she said this. It was clear that he did not want to be dragged across beacon by a cookie fueled speed demon. 

“Fine,” He said, “But if I win, which I will, then I get to pick how we get back to the dorms.” Ruby nodded, before walking to the opposite end of the platform, and adopting a combat stance. Nilo, unlike the last fight, didn’t adopt a combat stance at all. Instead, he held up one hand, and waved his fingers, taunting Ruby. She returned his gesture with a scowl.

Deciding not to waste any time with sniper shots, Ruby immediately used her semblance to charge Nilo before he could even drop his arm. Once she was within melee range, she tried to swing her scythe straight up between Nilo’s legs. Nilo responded by planting both of his boots in the crook of her scythe and using her attack to launch himself into the air.

Once he was at the apex of his jump, Nix threw four of his throwing knives at her. Two of them were headed straight for Ruby. She dodged both of the easily, but the other two knives had embedded themselves in her cloak, causing her to lose balance with her last dodge. Nilo took advantage of this and dug both of his boots into Ruby’s stomach causing her to finally topple over, like a red hooded house of cards.

Nilo used the force from his kick to push himself into a backward handspring, landing several feet away from Ruby. Ruby pulled the knives out of her cloak and picked herself up onto her feet again. She turned her attention back to her opponent, who was just grinning and waving at her.

Ruby planted the tip of her scythe into the ground and fired three shots from her sniper rifle before charging him again with her semblance, keeping speed with the bullets so she would hit Nilo the same time her gunshots would. Nilo responded by falling flat onto his back, leaving the bullets to soar harmlessly overhead, while causing Ruby to trip over him, and tumble into a nearby wall. 

“Ruby, Ruby, Ruby,” Nilo said, shaking his head as Ruby stood up, “When are you going to try something other than char-” Nilo was cut off mid sentence by five more shots from Ruby’s sniper rifle, that Nilo easily avoided with a combat roll. Ruby fired two more shots in his path. Ruby was sure she had him beat until two blue wings emerged from the harness holding his swords, and he easily flew out of the bullets’ paths. Ruby lowered her gun and stared at Nilo, awestruck. Nilo responded simply by shrugging.

“What,” He asked, “I’m not a one-trick pony.” Nilo’s wings retracted, and he fell back to the ground, landing on one knee. 

“Well, it’s been fun, little Rose,” Nilo said as he finally unsheathed his falcata, “but I’m starting to get bored, so let’s finish this.” Ruby refocused herself on the fight, and planted her scythe’s blade into the floor, firing two shots. Nilo spun his swords, deflecting the bullets, then threw both of his swords up in the air.

Before Ruby could wonder what was going on, Nilo unleashed a barrage of throwing knives on her. His hands were a blur, as he threw knife after knife at his opponent. Ruby used her semblance to avoid the majority of the knives. Only one managed to hit her in the shoulder, but it bounced off thanks to her depleting aura. Nilo caught his swords in his hands as they fell back down, and sheathed them.

Ruby realized that as long as he had a weapon, she would be outmatched. She quickly scanned over Nilo’s now open trench coat. He had already used around forty throwing knives, and he never retrieved his kukris after their first fight. That meant he only had about thirty knives and his two swords left.

Ruby finally stopped running circles around Nilo and charged him. This time, she didn’t try to hit him with her scythe, which she stored on her back, realizing she would need both hands to disarm him. Instead, she ran straight past him. The wind from her speed caused Nilo’s coat to open even further. Once this was accomplished, Ruby turned back around and sprinted past him again, this time grabbing as many of his throwing knives as the could, and throwing them away from their owner. She repeated this until he was out of throwing knives. Nilo trying to pin her down the entire time, but failing, due to her speed.

Once she had gotten rid of Nilo’s knives, Ruby turned her attention to his words. Once again she sprinted straight at him, using her semblance to close the distance even faster. Having given up on trying to catch her, Nilo threw a fist at the red hooded bullet, called Ruby Rose. Ruby responded by jumping over his first, doing a forward somersault while in the air, and grabbing Nilo’s words right off his back. As soon as she had wrapped her fingers around Nilo’s swords, she dug her boots into his back and pushed herself towards the nearest wall. Once she was there, she dropped Nilo’s falcata on the floor and pulled her scythe out again. She fully expanded it into scythe form and pointed it at him. 

“You’re out of blades,” Ruby stated simply, “Are you ready to give up?” Nilo put his hands on his hips and laughed. Ruby scowled at his reaction. Why couldn’t Nilo just give up and concede? His aura must have been almost as low as Ruby’s from the last fight, so what did he know that she didn’t?

“I’m not even close to ready little Rose,” He responded with a grin, “But it’s clear you aren’t either, so let’s get back at it, I’m getting hungry.” Once he finished talking, he broke out into a run straight for Ruby. Ruby fired three more shots from her sniper, emptying the magazine. Nilo dodged Ruby’s shots with ease, by diving into a combat roll. Once he was safe from Ruby’s gun, Nilo extended his harness wings and started to fly at his opponent. Ruby used her semblance to charge Nilo. She jumped up to his height and tried to slash his left wing off. Before she could make contact, Nilo folded his wings back into his harness, leaving Ruby to slice through the air. 

As soon as Ruby’s attack had failed, Nilo extended his wings and flew straight up, punching Ruby in the stomach. Ruby went flying even higher, before falling back to the ground. Nilo kicked ruby in the square of her back as she fell past him, finishing off her aura and sending her face first into a painful concrete wall. All she saw was blackness

========================================================================

Nilo flew towards Ruby, folding up his wings and breaking into a sprint on his way. Ruby started to slide down the wall before finally falling backward towards the floor. Nilo slid to his knees and caught her head before it hit the floor. Her entire body was limp, and her breathing was shallow. Nilo took not of her injuries.

Ruby had a large gash running down the side of her face. She was bleeding heavily from a broken nose, as well as several other cuts. Judging from the way she was breathing, Nilo probably crushed a lung and broke a few ribs too. Besides that, Ruby also had a soft spot on her forehead, hinting at a possible skull fracture, and maybe injuries to her brain. Nilo also saw her leg was very obviously broken. Her left tibia was poking through her skin and leggings, bleeding heavily. 

Nilo tried to pass his aura to Ruby and heal her to no avail. He tried to use his semblance to blink her to the infirmary, but instead, his aura turned green and made a fizzling noise before settling back into transparency. Nilo broke off into a run out of the sparring room and to the infirmary. As he was running he tapped into what little aura Ruby had and borrowed her speed. Nilo’s aura flashed crimson and hummed gently as he instantly sped up, running faster than any human should be able to and leaving a trail of rose petals and blood behind. 

========================================================================

Yang and Weiss were laughing as they nonchalantly walked back to their dorms. They had just gotten back from Vale, after seeing a movie, so they were in a pretty good mood, and joking about some of the funnier scenes.

Their cheery attitudes disappeared when something flew past them. The both immediately broke off their conversation as they watched whatever had flashed past them disappeared around a corner. It was only then that Yang noticed the rose petals and blood that had been trailing behind the figure. Yang immediately put on a look of worry, and judging from her face, Weiss was thinking the same thing. 

The white and yellow pair broke into a sprint, following the trail of roses and blood, hoping that their leader was okay.

========================================================================

Nilo finally stopped running once he was in the infirmary. As soon as he stopped, a nurse noticed him and the limp girl he was holding in his arms. She gestured to a nearby bed and quickly walked off, no doubt to get help. Nilo set hs companion in the hospital bed as gently as possible.

A few moments later, the nurse returned with a doctor in a clean white lab coat. He took one look at Ruby and immediately sped up. He walked/jogged over to the bed, and started to examine her.

“What happened?” The doctor asked as he started to remove Ruby’s blood stained clothing. Nilo’s hands were shaking as he sat down, horrified with the realization that this was his fault.

“W-we were sparring,” Nilo said as he tried to calm himself down, “I w-won, but she went flying into a wall without her a-aura. Oh my god, I’m so sorry Ruby.” By now the doctor had taken off all of Ruby’s clothes except her underwear. She was covered from head to toe in bruises and cuts. She was bleeding enough, that the bedsheets she was laying on top of were already almost completely red. The doctor looked up at Nilo and shook his head.

“I’m sorry son,” He said in a soothing voice, “She has a punctured lung, several broken bones, a skull fracture, brain contusions and a fractured spine. There’s nothing we can do. We’ll leave you alone to say your goodbyes.” The doctor and nurse both left, leaving Nilo alone with Ruby. Why did he have to keep hitting her, why couldn’t he have just stopped? He should have shown more self-control. Nilo chuckled weakly to himself. He was starting to sound like Ironwood.

Nilo turned his attention back to Ruby. There was no way he was going to let her die because of some stupid mistake that HE made. Nilo pulled out his scroll and dialed the first number on speed dial.

“Hello?” Nilo head a very friendly voice say on the other end.

“Kadir,” Nilo said in a tone far more serious than he would normally use, “Find Lavender and Kail and meet me in Beacon academy’s infirmary. I need a favor.” Nilo immediately heard Kadir start laughing. 

“You want a favor from Lavender?” He asked between chuckles, “Oh that’s rich.” Nilo’s face darkened.

“Just do it!” He snapped back into his scroll, “I’m not joking I need your help.”

“Okay,” Kadir said in a more somber tone, “We’ll be right there.”

Nilo looked at Ruby before saying, “Please hurry.”

========================================================================

“Is there a girl in a red hood here by any chance?”

“Yes, right this way please.”

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Is she going to be alright?”

“Normally I’d say no, but there’s something different about this case.”

“Different how?”

“She’s healing at an astonishing rate, almost to the level of a healing semblance.”

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“How did she get here?”

“A man in a blue trenchcoat carried her in. He was just here actually. I have no idea where he went.”

“Did he say what happened?”

“He said he kicked her into a wall without her aura while they were sparring... Why is your hair on fire?”

“Which way did he go?”

“Calm down Yang. Nurse you might want to sedate her before she smashes something.”

“Don’t try to stop me, Weiss.”

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Sorry again about the chair. And the janitor. But in my defense, I told you to sedate her.”

“Well she’s sedated now, so don’t worry about it. Hey, the other one’s waking up.”

Ruby opened her eyes, then immediately closed them when she was stunned by a blinding white light. She tried to bring her arms up to cover her face, but she couldn’t feel them.

“Ruby, are you okay? How do you feel?” Ruby heard a very familiar voice ask. Ruby opened her eyes again, squinting as her eyes adjusted to the light. She saw her friend and partner, Weiss Schnee, standing over her with the look of a concerned mother. Ruby smiled weakly, or at least she thought she did. She couldn’t feel much of anything.

“Like a rainbow,” Ruby responded as she felt her head go limp. Her neck felt like it was sculpted out of grape jelly. Weiss turned to a woman in a nurses outfit and raised an eyebrow. The nurse shrugged.

“She had thirteen broken bones and a collapsed lung,” The nurse explained as though it were obvious, “She’s on enough painkillers and sedatives to knock a goliath on its ass.” Ruby giggled at the thought of one of the giant, elephantine Grimm falling over backward. Weiss sighed as she turned back to Ruby.

“I don’t suppose you could explain why you’re here?” She asked reverting back to her usual stuck up tone, but Ruby noticed a hint of worry in her voice. Ruby thought about Weiss’s question for a few moments, before remembering what happened.

Ruby talked about as articulately as a four-year-old, “Well, I was trying to kill that boy in the blue coat, only it wasn’t a boy. He was a bat that looked like a boy. He was a batboy. Anyways, he was throwing knives at me, and I was shooting at him, and then he decided to pick me up and fly, but then he dropped me and I fell. He’s really cute by the way, and I think you would like him. Just don’t ask about the bloodstains outside of the sparring room.” Weiss raised her eyebrow for the second time in as many minutes before turning to the nurse.

“Did any of that make sense to you,” She asked in an exasperated tone. The nurse scratched her chin and sighed.

“No, but with all the drugs in her system, it’s a wonder she can make coherent words.” Ruby giggled. That was a silly word. Coherent. Weiss looked at Ruby as she laughed and brought her hand up to her face, looking defeated.

“Alright,” She said as she dropped her hand and pulled out her scroll, “I guess I better call Blake. I’m going to need help to drag Yang back to our dorm.” The nurse fearfully glanced over at the bed next to Ruby’s. It was occupied by Ruby’s unconscious, short-tempered sister Yang Xiao Long.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” The nurse asked nervously, practically shaking in her boots. Ruby thought she looked cold, “I think we need to keep her here and restrained.” Weiss looked up from her scroll.

“Don’t worry, we’ll restrain her in our dorm. Besides, it’ll be easier to calm her down in a familiar place. Just take good care of Ruby.” Ruby wanted to keep listening in on the conversation, but her eyelids started to droop, and she could feel herself drifting off into a deep, peaceful, drug induced slumber.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ruby groaned lazily as she opened her eyes. She was in a brightly lit white room with rows of beds and medical equipment along the walls. There were people in white lab coats and scrubs walking from bed to bed and taking notes on their scrolls. It was fairly obvious that Ruby was in a hospital, but she couldn’t remember why. The last thing she remembered was her sparring with Nilo. Did she get hurt during the fight?

Ruby looked over herself for any injuries but didn’t see any. She did notice she wasn’t wearing her usual clothes. She was in a green, sleeveless hospital robe. Besides that, Ruby also noticed she was hooked up to an IV bag filled with a clear liquid.

“You’re alive! Guess I owe Jaune ten lien.” Ruby turned her head to the source of the voice and was greeted by the sight of a bubbly looking red-haired girl with blue eyes and a pink and white battle dress. Nora Valkyrie. Ruby smiled as she lifted up her head and scratched the back of it.

“Hey Nora,” She said weakly, as she struggled to sit upright, “What happened to me?” The normally perky redhead grew somber for a moment.

“Nobody really knows,” She said as she helped Ruby sit up, “Some guy in a blue trenchcoat brought you in. The doctors couldn’t do anything so the left him to say goodbye to you, but when they came back a few minutes later, You were healing, and he was gone.” Ruby thought about this for a moment. Nilo must have done something to help her heal, but then why would he leave? Maybe he didn’t do anything and just left her there to die alone, but Ruby wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt.

As if she was reading Ruby’s mind, Nora said, “Yang made an oath to break this guy’s arms if she ever sees him.” Ruby chuckled at this. Normally she would be worried about Nilo, or anyone that made Yang made, but he fought off Ruby without even breaking a sweat. He could handle Yang, wherever he was.

“Ruby! You’re Awake!” Ruby turned her head to the sound of the voice. She saw a boy in a black hoodie with white armor pieces and jeans running towards her, gripping the sword on his hip to keep it from jostling around. Ruby smiled as her friend, Jaune Arc, clumsily stopped next to Nora.

“Ruby,” he said, catching his breath. He was surprisingly tired after such a short run, “You have no idea how worried everyone was.” Ruby chuckled.

“Well from what Nora told me, you were worried enough to bet on my surviving. But I don’t see why. I’m fine. See?” Ruby waved her hands in front of her. She looked and felt completely fine. Whatever injuries everyone kept referring to were gone.

“But you weren’t,” Jaune countered as Nora wandered over to the bed next to Ruby’s, “You broke your legs, spine, skull, and punctured a lung. You were going to die.” Ruby thought about this for a minute. Jaune was saying essentially the same thing Nora had said a while ago. But there was one thing she didn’t understand.

“Then how am I okay?” She asked giving herself another once over. Aside from being tired, well, exhausted really, she felt fine.

“Nobody can figure that out,” Jaune said as he scratched the back of his head, “Your aura was depleted, but you just started healing. Not at a normal level either. You were healing like you had eight people's’ worth of aura at full strength. The only other time the doctors have ever seen anything like it was in the form of a semblance.” Ruby knew he was trying to help her, but all Jaune was doing was raising more questions. Ruby looked over at Nora, she was standing over an old, graying man. He was breathing through a tube.

“Who’s that?” Ruby asked trying to bring her mind off of her miraculous recovery. Nora looked up with a pained face.

“He was the janitor, then he tried to stop Yang from going to kill the guy that brought you here,” Nora replied in a disturbingly cheery voice. Ruby shuddered at the thought of Yang throwing a temper tantrum. Well, at least it happened in an infirmary.

Ruby yawned as she felt her eyelid slowly droop. Jaune noticed and gently shook her should.

“Hey,” He said in a gentle, caring voice, “I know you’re tired, but we need to know. Do you have any idea why you survived or where that guy in the blue trench coat went?” Ruby rubbed her eyes before shaking her head. She had just run into Nilo in the hallway. She didn’t even know where his dorm was, let alone if he would be there. Jaune nodded before turning to Nora, who was playing with the unconscious janitor’s arm.

“Come on Nora,” He said quietly as Ruby started to doze off, “We’d better get to class.” Ruby’s eyes shot open at this. Class? It was a Saturday. How long had she been here?

“Jaune?” Ruby called lazily as she closed her eyes. She didn’t want to show her worry.

“Yeah?” he responded almost instantly. Ruby could hear his feet stop.

“You said, classes. What day is it?” Ruby was worried to hear something dramatic. In her books and movies, when someone was knocked out, it was usually for months or even years. Luckily it wasn’t nearly as long as Ruby thought.

“Wednesday,” He said, “You’ve been unconscious for four days.” Four days. It wasn’t too bad actually. It wasn’t good obviously, but Ruby had been expecting worse. Ruby wanted to keep talking, but before she could, sleep took her.

========================================================================

After four days of her friends and teammates trying to calm her down, Yang had gone from a blood-curdling rage to just violently angry. This had worked wonders for her scores in sparring, much to the dismay of everyone that got paired with her, Yang's anger had activated her semblance. No matter where she was, her hair was almost always on fire, her eyes were almost always red, she was always looking for someone or something to hit, no almost about it, but most importantly, she was ready to kill anybody brave enough to wear a blue trench coat.

By now, most of the school had heard about the incident and was staying as far away from Yang, and the color blue as possible. Jaune had even stopped wearing blue jeans, opting for gray ones instead. It didn’t matter. Even though she had slightly calmed down immediately after Ruby’s injury, she was growing far more expressive in her frustration of not being able to find the guy that hurt Ruby by hitting anybody brave enough to get within arms reach, with the exception of teams RWBY and JNPR.

“That’s the match Miss Xiao Long! You can let go of Mister Lark! NOW!” Yang threw one last punch at the blue haired warrior for good measure before dropping him to the ground. Ms. Goodwitch was furious of course, but Yang didn’t care. Maybe she had lost control a little, but who cares? He was one of Cardin’s goons. Yang turned to leave the sparring stage. It had been cleaned up since Ruby was injured. The only reminder of that fight as an indent in the wall that Ruby hit.

“You crazy bitch!” Sky yelled after his opponent, “You broke my nose!” Yang turned around and glared at Sky. He immediately blanched as Yang’s hair burst into flames and her eyes turned red as Ruby’s cloak. She started to furiously march after him as he slid backward, still in a sitting position. Yang raised her fist and yelled, but before she could throw a punch, her entire body stiffened, and she couldn’t move. Professor Goodwitch walked in between Yang and Sky, holding her riding crop out towards Yang with a look of concentration and anger on her face.

“Class dismissed,” She said in a frighteningly calm voice, “Miss Xiao Long, I would like to have a conversation with you.” Yang scowled as Professor Goodwitch released her, and walked over to the other end of the raised sparring platform, crossing her arms.

“Yang,” she said in a surprisingly somber tone, “I understand what you’re going through. Really, I do. Your sister was injured and almost died, and you’re angry at the person responsible, but that doesn’t excuse your brutality while fighting!” Even though Professor Goodwitch started out gently, she quickly returned to normal and started yelling. Yang clenched her fists, leaving nail marks in her palm.

“Do you have a sister?” Yang asked with thinly veiled fury, “Or a daughter? Do you?!?” Professor Goodwitch was taken aback. Typical. She’s lecturing Yang on a situation she knows nothing about. Yang snarled as Goodwitch tried to find a response that wouldn’t make her look like the fucking hypocrite she was.

“No, I don’t,” Professor Goodwitch replied, “But I have lost family before. And I would advise you to be respectful when addressing your teachers. Because of your family crisis, I will let you off with a warning, but if you ever endanger a student or disrespect a teacher again, there will be consequences.” Yang let out an angered huff of air and left, seething with rage. Her flaming hair and still fully extended Ember Celica were enough to ensure her a wide berth from everyone else on her way back to her dorm.

========================================================================

Ruby sighed as she laid on her bed and stared at the ceiling. She had no idea what to tell her teammates when they got back from their classes. ‘Hey! Sorry I almost died.’ Seriously? Ugh! She was especially worried about how Yang was going to react.

As if on cue, the blonde opened the door and walked inside. It was clear she was angry. Her hair was on fire, and her eyes were red. She was also huffing like a ninety-year-old asthmatic on cocaine. Yang quickly walked over to the set of bunk beds opposite Ruby’s and pulled herself up to the top one. Once she was there, she continued to huff as she stared at the wall, completely failing to notice Ruby. After a few minutes, Yang sat up, turned away from Ruby to face a wall, and punched a hole in it. Ruby finally spoke.

“Bad day?” She asked in a sarcastic tone, hoping to lighten the mood. Yang slowly turned around and stared at Ruby, slackjawed. It was difficult for Ruby to figure out what Yang was feeling. Her hair was still on fire, but the red in her eyes was fading. The last time Ruby had seen Yang look like this was the time Zwei “marked his territory” in her favorite boots.

“Ruby?” She whispered, before crying out in joy, “You’re okay! Don’t ever scare me like that again! I thought you were going to die!” Yang’s hair was now completely extinguished and her eyes were back to their regular purple-ish color. She had a big smile on her face. She quickly jumped down from her bunk and ripped Ruby from hers into a giant bear hug. Ruby gasped for breath as Yang tried to crush the life out of her, straining some fairly new and fragile ribs. Yang must have noticed Ruby wincing because she let go of her almost immediately.

“Sorry,” Yang said, suddenly fascinated by her toes, “I’m just glad you’re okay.” Her face darkened as she looked back up into Ruby’s silver eyes before pulling her back into a hug, “But the guy that did that to you won’t be when I’m done with him.” Ruby was surprised at how gentle Yang was being this time. Especially since she was obviously fuming.

Their sappy moment was interrupted by the door opening and Weiss walking in with a girl wearing a sleeveless white shirt with a black vest, and black and purple stockings that complemented a black bow on her head. She was the fourth and final member of team RWBY, antisocial book aficionado, Blake Belladonna.

“Yang,” Weiss said, sounding annoyed, “We’ve been looking all over for you.” She obviously hadn’t noticed Ruby, being too focused on lecturing the taller blonde girl. Blake, however, did notice Ruby, and gave Weiss a quick kick in the shins, stopping her mid-lecture.

“What?” Weiss asked turning to the quiet huntress. Blake rolled her eyes and nodded to Ruby, who was standing meekly beside Yang, waiting for Weiss to explode. She and Weiss had gotten over their initial problems, but things were still a little icy between them. Ugh. That was such a bad pun. Maybe Yang was rubbing off on her.

“Good to see you’re okay, Ruby,” Blake said before walking over to her bed and pulling out a book. It was good to see that she hadn’t been overly affected by Ruby’s injury. Weiss, on the other hand, had clearly been affected. She was reacting quite similarly to Yang but was trying to hide her excitement. The result was a very constipated looking facial expression.

“When did you get out of the hospital? Why didn’t you call us?” Weiss asked as she walked up to Ruby, who was shrinking away from her. Even though they had gotten over the whole explosion misunderstanding, Weiss still had very little appreciation for Ruby’s mistakes. Weiss seemed to notice Ruby’s discomfort because she stopped her advance, and looked down at the younger girl apologetically.

“Right,” She said, “Probably because you didn’t want us to freak out,” Weiss turned to Yang, “I trust you’ll stop your manhunt now that Ruby’s okay?” It was more of a question than a declaration. Yang scoffed as she walked over to the closet that she shared with Blake, and pulled a blood stained crowbar. Everyone else in the room blanched.

“Nope,” She replied simply in a horrifyingly bubbly tone as she started to take practice swings with the crowbar. She looked like a murderous baseball player. Weiss instinctively took a step back.

“Yang?” she asked nervously. Yang looked up. The look in her eye would be enough to get an Ursa to run in fear.

“Yeah?” she asked, still in a happy tone, bouncing on the balls of her feet.

“I have a few questions.”

“Okay. Shoot.” Yang punctuated her last sentence by rotating the crowbar in her hand.

“First off, where did you get a crowbar, Second, who’s blood is that, and finally, what exactly are your intentions with it?” Weiss accentuated each question by taking a small skittish step forward. She was within arms reach of Yang by the time she was done talking.

“I’ve had this crowbar for years,” Yang said answering the first question as she lifted the crowbar and gently placed the end of it against Weiss’s temple, “This blood used to belong to Ruby’s childhood bully.” Weiss turned to Ruby. She was slack-jawed and staring at Yang.

“He disappeared under mysterious circumstances,” She said, “Well, mysterious until now.” Weiss turned back to Yang, horrified. Yang saw their faces and frowned.

“What?” She asked, “I didn’t kill him! I just beat him until he couldn’t walk and threw him in a shipping container labeled ‘Atlas.’ He’s fine! But yes, I plan on doing something similar to this new guy.” After getting over the initial shock of Yang’s assault and battery, Ruby scoffed at the idea of her sister beating up Nilo. Hitting Nilo was about as easy as swatting a fly with chopsticks and cataracts. Yang turned to Ruby.

“What’s so funny sis?” She asked as she twirled the crowbar between her fingers.

“You’re not going to be able to beat up Nilo,” Ruby said then nodded at the crowbar, “Especially with that. When we were sparring I couldn’t land a single hit on him, except when he let me.” Yang nodded thoughtfully, the threw her crowbar on her bunk.

“So Nilo’s his name huh?” she asked, “Thanks for the tip, by the way, I’ll need to find something faster to hit him with.” Ruby sighed, then fell backward onto Weiss’s bed. Yang was exhausting to deal with when she was mad like this.

“Please don’t try to beat him up,” She said as she settled her hands under her head, “He didn’t mean to hurt me. It was an accident.” Yang thought about this for a moment. Ruby briefly thought she was getting through to her sister, but only briefly.

“Right,” She said, “So I should ‘accidentally’ beat him to a pulp and express ship him to another kingdom?” Yang made finger quotes around the word accidentally and winked at Ruby. Ruby sighed. It was going to be a long night.

========================================================================

Over the next few days, Ruby wouldn’t stop badgering Yang about leaving that Nilo guy alone. Whenever he would come up in conversation, Ruby would talk about how nice he was incessantly. It was starting to get on Yang’s nerves honestly. How could she defend someone that had beat her almost to death, and then vanished? Ruby was in the middle of one of these lectures during breakfast one day when Yang had finally had enough.

“Ruby,” She said, cutting her sister off mid-sentence, “I don’t care if he’s a nice guy. I don’t care if it was an accident. The important part is that he hurt you, so I’m going to hurt him more.” Yang pulled a very large and threatening hunting knife and tested its sharpness by running the blade down her fingernail. She looked up to see Ruby staring at the knife. Yang tucked it back into her belt.

“Where did you get that?” Ruby asked as yang brought her attention back to her food. Yang shrugged as Weiss and Blake joined them at their table.

“Ruby,” She responded as if she was talking to a child, which, technically she was, “You have a seven foot scythe that’s also a sniper rifle, I have shotguns on my wrists, Blake has a katana that’s also a nine millimeter pistol, and Weiss has a rapier that shoots fire, and you want to know where I got a simple hunting knife? Seriously?” Ruby was about to answer when Weiss changed the subject. Sort of.

“I heard that Nilo Hinto boy’s team is coming in tomorrow,” She said, “Apparently their all combat prodigies. General Ironwood purposefully paired them together to make an elite team. It’s foolish if you ask me.” Blake looked up from her food and turned to her team.

“She feels threatened by them,” She responded flatly. Weiss immediately started to turn red, but before she could think of something to say, the entire lunchroom turned quiet. At first, Yang couldn’t tell why. She looked around and noticed everyone’s attention was glued on one of two places. Her and the door. Yang turned around and saw a man walking towards them.

He walked with a slight limp in his left leg, as if he was recently injured. He had deeply tanned skin and jet black hair, causing his pale blue eyes stick out even more than they normally would. A few other things also caught Yang’s attention. For starters, he had a scar running down his forehead, stopping just above his left eye. She also noticed he wore a familiar harness with two falcata swords strapped to his back, and his trench coat jingled with the sound of throwing knives. Oh yeah, one other thing. He was wearing a blue trench coat.

Yang immediately clenched her fists and rested a hand on her hunting knife. He finally had the balls to show his face, and she was going to give a scar to match the one already on his face. Nilo walked over to team RWBY’s table and plopped himself down across from Ruby who had a look of dread writ on her face.

“Hey little Rose,” He said with a cocky, annoying voice, “Did you miss me?” He must have noticed Ruby glancing back and forth between him and Yang because he turned to face the blonde. All the anger she had been trying to vent slowly over the last week exploded as her eyes turned red and her hair burst into flames. Nilo didn’t seem too worried about it, though.

Nilo stuck out his hand and said, “Hey hot stuff. I don’t think we’ve met. My name’s Nilo. Nilo Hin-” Nilo was cut off mid sentence as Yang slashed at his face with her hunting knife.


End file.
